Wine and Swine Returns with Alligator Barbecue, Celebrity Chefs and More

Wine and Swine, an afternoon-long wine tasting and cook-out held each April atWine Country Bistro & Bottle Shop, will return for 2016 on Sunday, April 10. I’m sure that there will be lots of great wines (usually about 60 wines in all) poured at the party, for which tickets are now available. But, like every year, details of the food offerings at Wine and Swine have begun to emerge, and they’re completely insane. Tickets are $80 each and must be purchased in advance at either of the Wine Country retail shops (4801 Line Avenue in Shreveport or 608 Absinthe Court in Shreveport).

Here’s what I’ve heard about the food, guest chefs, pop-ups and other madness that add up to one of the most ambitious annual food events in Shreveport*:

Chef Tom Ramsey of Jackson, Mississippi’s La Finestra will be a guest chef at Wine and Swine 2016.

Guest Chefs:Chef Dustie Latiolais, executive chef at the heralded Louisiana seafood destinationCrawfish Town USA, will apparently be a guest chef at Wine and Swine 2016. Latiolais is one of the most-liked chefs in Cajun country and is thought of as a kind of guru of Louisiana seafood. Who knows what he’ll be doing at an event that usually centers around smoked pig meat, but it may have something to do with the fact that Wine and Swine 2016 will apparently feature a pit-grilled alligator.Chef Tom Ramsey, of Jackson, Mississippi’sLa Finestrarestaurant, is also said to be cooking at Wine and Swine. Ramsey was recently featured on an episode of ABC’s The Taste, cooking on a team with Anthony Bourdain. He’s alsoappeared on Appetite for Life with Andrew Zimmernand a whole bunch of other cooking and food-related shows.

Food-wise, I’ve heard that, in addition to the aforementioned alligator grilled over an open flame, there’ll be aParish Taceauxpop-up featuring pork cheek tacos as well as chorizo sausage and pimiento cheese quesadillas. Parish Taceaux is the new restaurant project from Wine Country (and Cadre Hospitality Group/Southern Fork Catering/Zocolo) head honcho Jason Brady, opening in April in downtown Shreveport. Presumably, there’ll also be lots of smoked pork sourced locally and prepared creatively by Wine Country’s Chef Anthony Felan and the rest of the considerable team that are responsible for the Wine and Swine spread. Local band Easy Money will be performing at the event.